Prometheus - Sophie's Thoughts

In response to Ralph's previous review (to which I am completely accepting of - everyone is entitled to their own opinion etc) I would like to offer the following few comments.

For the people who know me well, they know the following things -
1) I am definitely not a person who thinks logically
2) I have little or no concentration most of the time
3) I will always choose a good story over special effects
4) many of my favourite films are ones I don't (or only realise a long time after) that I do not understand
5) I don't have much interest in Alien but I do love Blade Runner - I will challenge anyone to a duel over their      knowledge of this film.
6) and of course this one - I am a HUGE Lost fan...don't care how many questions went unanswered, for me this was just how the show was, I didn't need answers and I loved the ending...what were people actually expecting? I would like to know some alternative suggestions.

So onto Prometheus...

1) I wasn't really paying attention to the plot as I was too blown away by the visuals....lighting, sound, cinematography, you know..the usual stuff I'm into!

2) I went into the cinema with absolutely no expectations whatsoever, hadn't read a thing about it and thought I would be completely bored seeing as Alien doesn't interest me much anyway...how many god damn times must I hear the endless possible meanings as to why Ripley strips down to her underwear at the end? Because she wanted to, that's probably why. Basically I had/have no idea what all these connections between the films are.

3) I totally believed the entire time David was a good guy...was he? Whatever, the scene where he poured the vodka was great and I was relieved he survived. It forced me to revisit that old classic Shame afterwards which I now like a lot more.

4) I thought the self abortion type scene was great and this was when I really started paying attention. I hadn't made the connection with David infecting the other guy or whatever, I was really just taking this in scene by scene and trying to pay as much attention to the story as I could while inwardly gushing about the film's beauty.

5) I find those who base their enjoyment of things on logic to be cold hearted creatures who should maybe lighten up a bit and just enjoy stuff cos it's entertaining and doesn't need to make sense to be so...

6) Director's get worse as they get older...for example George Lucas and Tim Burton. Scott's released some decent films in the last decade but none of them are particularly memorable. Gladiator was epic, Kingdom of Heaven wasn't, but supposedly the director's cut is a great improvement.
Scott is known for altering his films (without taking anything away from fans of the originals) so there may be many versions of this still to come...he has said there is much that could be added and altered.

Most importantly...I just loved it because I thought it was amazing. And no matter how many people try to tell me this is wrong, I will not give in!

4.2/5


"Don't listen to the hype"...as someone once said.

Film Ratings: Pleasure or Profit?

This year there has been a number of films which have come under scrutiny due to their rating classifications. First there was The Woman in Black, the latest Hammer horror film which included Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe as its main attraction. This film was cut slightly and given a 12A certificate by the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification). I think the cuts were very slight here, and a 12A certificate was justifiable. True the film did include a few scares, but these were of the jumpy variety rather than a no holds barred gore fest. The film may have received a higher rating had it not been for Radcliffe’s involvement, but as it was the film made a respectable $126,143,243 at the worldwide box office.

Next came The Hunger Games, where two teenagers from twelve districts were made to fight to the death until only one remained the winner. This was also given a 12A certificate after a few cuts. During my trip to see this I was slightly shocked at the amount of pre-teens at the screening. These children were aged twelve at the most and without their parents. Despite the actual violent content of the film, which wasn’t actually too significant, I felt that kids of a young age would not be able to understand the meaning of the film (despite it being adapted from a book for teens). As of today The Hunger Games has made a total of $620,702,000 worldwide so far, making it the highest grossing film of 2012 until the recent release of Marvel’s Avengers.

 What this clearly indicates is that the lower the rating classification, the more money the film is likely to make. The Woman in Black was a roaring success in the UK but would not have been so if not for the attachment of Radcliffe and the 12A rating, and similarly The Hunger Games was marketed as a children’s film but without doubt had an adult theme.

Which brings us onto the highly anticipated Prometheus: the so-called Alien prequel, directed by the series’ originator Ridley Scott. Much debate has been had over whether this film should have received a lower rating to attract a larger audience, or should stick with a higher rating so as to present the film the way the director originally intended. According to the BBFC website Prometheus has been granted a 15 classification, and rightly so in my opinion. To cut material essential to the film may increase ticket sales, but this is a film made for those who love the original Alien films, and to have to watch in a cinema surrounded by shrieking kids would surely deny them the enjoyment of the film they have been anticipating for the last two years.